Xavier Cromwell
Xavier Maxwell Cromwell, better known as 'Xavier Cromwell '(born October 14th, 2230) is an authoritarian politician and military leader holds that the rank of Field Marshal within the Cascadian Defense Forces and is the current Minister of Defense for Cascadia. Born into a military family, Xavier Cromwell joined the Cascadian Army when he turned 18 in accordance with family tradition and remained in the army for the rest of his youth rising through the ranks. He eventually joined the Ministry of Defense when he was 31 and became Minister of Defense in 2278 after being appointed into the office by Jerome Benett when he became chancellor. Since the Cascadian Civil War began in 2284, Cromwell has served as one of the leading Cascadian military commanders and leaders throughout the war. History Early Life and Childhood Xavier Cromwell was born on October 14th, 2230 in Port Angeles, Olympus in the Republic of Cascadia to a family with military tradition. Before his birth, Xavier's grandfather fought during the Salish Sea Anti-Piracy Campaign and his father was a lieutenant of the Cascadian Army during the Northern Frontier War. When Xavier was born, his father was off fighting in the war and was born in a makeshift suburb near the military base his father was stationed at in Northern Cascadia. When the war ended, Xavier was only three and his father left the army and returned back to Olympus after the war had ended. He grew up in a large household due to his extended family living with him as well and was raised to become future soldiers. Xavier attended regular school, but Cascadian army propaganda had influenced him throughout his life and he eventually enlisted when he turned 18 in accordance with family tradition. He attended the New Victorian Military Academy to become an officer and graduated when he turned 23 and was assigned to the 23rd Infantry Division. Early Military Career After joining the division, he became an officer and was the second in command of a commander of the 17th Infantry Regiment. Most of his early military career saw little action due to the peace time status the army was in following the end of the Frontier War. In 2255, Cromwell was an officer of the 17th Regiment and was sent to Alaska to take part in a peacekeeping operation in the country after the Alaskan Civil War. While there, he was stationed in Anchorage when his unit was ambushed by partisans of the Alaskan Restorationist Front. His left eye was shot at during the ambush, but he kept fighting and managed to kill eight insurgents before he was relieved by reinforcements. His eye was surgecally removed and was given an eye patch and was awarded with the Golden Heart and the Blue Cross for his courage despite his injuries. He remaiend in the army despite his injuries, but had to command away from frontline combat to avoid sustaining further injuries. He remained in Alaska until 2261 when his unit was called back to Cascadia. Ministry of Defense When Xavier was 31 years old, he reached the rank of colonel and applied to work in the Ministry of Defense. He was accepted and was part of the Military Council of the Northern Army Disctricts, a military council that monitors all army activities in Cascadia's northern provinces. In the event of war, he would be part of the Officer Staff of the Northern Army Group and was only subordinate to Field Marshal Matthais Whitehall. As part of Whitehall's personal staff, Cromwell oversaw the troop movements and positions on Cascadia's border with the New Yukon Republic and the Federation of Alaska, which were viewed as potential national security threats due to past conflict with Alaska and Yukon's sympathy towards the New Comintern Pact was a major concern. Like he did in the army, he rose through the ranks and was became the Minister of Defense in 2278 after he was appointed by Jerome Benett when forming his cabinet following his election as Chancellor of Cascadia. Cascadian Civil War By the start of 2280s, political tensions had risen within Cascadia as leftist and socialist movements were gaining steam in opposition to Benett's government and the ruling New Prosperity Party which had been cracking down on leftist political activity since 2278. Cromwell often advised Benett and often provided authoritarian answers including cracking down on the Socialist Party of Cascadia and spying on the Social Democratic Party to ensure the party's national loyalties according to him. On January 14th, 2284, a major protest took place in New Victoria and evolved into a riot and eventual armed uprising known as the New Victoria Uprising and Cromwell ordered troops to regain control over the capital city and crush other uprisings in other cities. The uprising was crushed, but not before further conflict broke out and the Cascadian Civil War began. A self-proclaimed provisional government was established and took over parts of Cascadia's eastern territories and Cromwell commanded forces to recapture these lands, but failed due to Comintern military intervention and full-scale invasion of Cascadia. In July of 2284, the New Comintern Pact launched the July Offensive and managed to capture many cities and secure control over Cascadia's eastern provinces by attacking from multiple directions. Cromwell held supreme command over the armed forces, but he was unable to send enough men to stop the push into Eastern and Central Cascadia and many towns and cities were lost along with many of the eastern provinces' territories. He appointed General Winston Cantrell to stop the Comintern forces and he won at the Battle of Nelson, but not before large swarfs of land and territory were lost. Personality Category:People